The Odd Fork

Every time the Odd Fork pinches something edible, it wonders what could be the strangest thing to make with it? Besides, it wouldn't be odd if it thought any different!
Cucumber is by far the most refreshing vegetable, usually eaten raw in salads. Therefore, the Odd Fork thought to experiment by trying to cook maybe the only vegetable which needs no cooking. But it didn't just cooked the cucumber, the bigger challenge would be to make a dessert with it!
And here it is: An aromatic spoon sweet with cucumber instead of fruits, fresh dill and lemon, excellent for hot summer evenings or after lunch/dinner.

For a small jar:

- a small, baby cucumber or half a cucumber if it's big
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- some fresh dill
- a little of dill liqueur, or some ouzo

Wash the cucumber thoroughly and peel it, keeping though some of the peel. Slice it and set aside. Add water, sugar and lemon juice in a pot and when it comes to a boil, add cucumber slices and cook on high heat for a couple of minutes until syrup thickens -but you don't want it to caramelize.
Remove pot from the stove, add some dill fronds and cover. When cooler, add dill liqueur or a shot of ouzo if dill liqueur is not available.

Transfer cooled cucumber spoon sweet into a clean, glass jar with a lid. Keep it in the fridge.
It tastes better the next day, or some days after and it is also well paired with white cheeses. The Odd Fork tasted it with Greek Katiki cheese and loved it!
And of course, it is also excellent with Greek ouzo! 😏

The Odd Fork hates programs. It likes to be spontaneous and when it comes to cooking, the result of mixing leftovers with no recipe just being struck by inspiration, has often been a success!

The sweet pie above tasted -thanks to the spices, like Greek grape must cookies, a.k.a. moustokouloura. This big "cookie" though, is stuffed with a delicious sweet zucchini - raisin mixture, low in fat, vegan, high in fiber and excellent for the Odd's Fork morning coffee!

For the pastry:

- half a packet of whole grain self-rising flour (about 250 - 300 grams)
- a shot of olive oil
- a shot of cognac (or rum/whisky, anything available)
- half a cup of coconut sugar
- mix of ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon

For the filling:

- 4 to 5 small, tender zucchinis
- half to 2/3 cup of black raisins
- some sunflower seeds
- 2 to 3 Tbsps coconut sugar, or to taste
- a shot of cognac
- mix of ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon
- 2 Tbsps corn flour

The Odd Fork started with the filling first and all it had to do, was to wash and shred the zucchinis using a cheese grater. It mixed the shredded zucchinis with all the remaining filling ingredients and set the mixture aside. Someone can taste and adjust the amount of sugar and spices.
For the pastry, the Odd Fork  added  olive oil, cognac, sugar and spice mixture in its blender and mixed on high speed until sugar dissolved (as possible). It added flour to the liquid mixture and kneaded to form a soft dough that could be easily rolled by hand. Again, someone can adjust the amount of flour or use some of the filling liquids if dough is too thick.

The Odd Fork rolled half of the dough on a pan lined with parchment paper stretching it with hands, placed over it the zucchini filling and covered with the remaining half dough stretching it again by hand and carefully sealing the pie edges. It pinched the pie's surface so that steam could evaporate during baking time.
It baked in a preheated oven at at 375 F for 30-40 minutes (depending on the oven), until pie was golden brown but just to make sure, it pinched an edge and when the fork came out of the baked dough clean, it was a good sign that the pie was ready.

The Odd Fork let pie cool before cutting it. It tasted it happily and was also pleased enough to trick some little forks into actually eating their green veggies with no complaints. 😏
That's because zucchinis are well "masked" in this sweet pie and due to raisins and spices, someone can easily pass it for an apple pie!

The Odd Fork was once a little fork and not so odd yet. At the time it used to pinch mom's food, as all little beings do. It's favorite mom's meal were baked stuffed vegetables, like tomatoes, green peppers and zucchinis. The little fork just loved the tender, cooked rice with the flavors of summer vegetables and aromatic herbs like basil or spearmint. This traditional vegetarian Greek meal was -and still is- for The Odd Fork, the epitome of comfort food.

So when The Odd Fork found in the local open fruit market nice, fresh summer zucchinis it remembered the old, mom's stuffed zucchinis. But since now it's big and odd, it made something similar to mom's recipe with a twist though -it just couldn't do it any other way! 😏

For a medium rectangular casserole, it used:

- olive oil

- an onion finely chopped

- a clove of garlic finely chopped

- salt, pepper, some dried spearmint leaves (powder)

- half a packet of risotto rice (about 200 to 250 grams)

- 2 medium carrots finely shredded  

- some black raisins and some sunflower seeds

- a bunch of fresh dill finely chopped (only the top, tender parts)

- zucchinis (so many as needed)

- some extra olive oil, dried spearmint leaves (powder), salt + pepper

To make this simple yet unusual meal, do like The Odd Fork the following: In a large sauce pan, sauté onion and garlic in a tbsp of olive oil. Add the rice, salt, pepper and dried spearmint (even better fresh spearmint if you can find it) and stir with a wooden spatula.
Add enough water to cover the rice and when it boils add carrots, raisins and sunflower seeds, cover and simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Then increase the heat, uncover and stirring often let the mixture thicken, just like making risotto. Add dill just before removing from the stove and mix well.
Set aside.
And now is the odd thing about the recipe: You' re gonna need a peeler, so that you can cut large strips of each zucchini. Arrange zucchini strips onto an oiled rectangular baking casserole in such a way as to cover the bottom and the sides of the casserole. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried, ground spearmint, drizzle with olive oil and bake in a preheated oven, at 400F, for 10 - 15 minutes until zucchini strips are tender and slightly, light brown.

Place the rice mixture over the almost baked zucchini strips and cover the surface again with new, raw zucchini strips. It' s like making a pie with zucchini strips up and down, instead of pastry! Again drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried, ground spearmint and again bake in a preheated oven, at 400F for almost 20 minutes, or until top zucchini strips are tender and slightly, light brown.

Let cool for 30 - 40 minutes before cutting in square pieces. The Odd Fork paired this meal successfully with white, Greek wine (Greek wine types like Malagousia or Moschofilero are excellent for this) and enjoyed its lunch to the maximum. The soft texture of the cooked rice with the mild flavor of zucchinis and carrots contracted by the intensity of pepper and dried spearmint and the sweetness of black raisins together with dill's freshness, made the meal balanced and delicious!
That different kind of zucchini pie was so reminiscent of mom, summery and unusual, as the Odd Fork wished it to be!